What It Means To Be A Democrat

 (This is a speech delivered at the Lafayette Parish Democratic Executive Committee's fourth annual Lifetime Achievement Awards Banquet which was held on October 6, 2011. I got to deliver the speech by virtue of the fact I was the Democratic candidate for Lafayette City-Parish President.)

There are a lot of people thinking about this these days, particularly in our state and in our parish. Our state party was not able to field a single well-funded candidate for statewide office this year. The so-called smart money has abandoned us. Republicans have achieved the kind of dominance on the state level that some in this room have come to accept to here in Lafayette.

While conventional wisdom has it that these are bad times to be a Democrat, I believe we are exactly where we need to be in order to put our party in working order. There is no recognizable advantage to being a Democrat, so the opportunists have left us for greener pastures.

Clearly, for our party, the time has come to get back to basics. With most of the deadwood out of the way, we can now get down to the work of rebuilding our party.

In preparing for this speech, I went back to the very basics, starting with the root word “demos” in an effort to understand literally what it means to be a democrat.

The dictionary defines “demos” as being the common people of an ancient Greek state.

But, in the centuries since it originated, Demos has come to mean “the common people” in any political unit.

That form of government based on the notion of power flowing from the consent of the governed is called Democracy. Again, based on demos.

Democracy is defined as government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.

The United States and Canada are democracies, although there are some in our own country who are working hard to restrict the right to participate in our elections. They are anti-democratic in both the little “D” and big “D” meanings of the word.

Democracy is also defined as a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges. That is, there is only one set of rules that we all agree to play by and that those rules produce a level playing field where your chances for success rest at least as much on what you know as  who you know.

There can be no privileged class in a democracy. We are all equal in terms of rights, duties and privileges.

So, demos is the common people. Democracy is rule by the common people, in a place having free elections, and where people have equality based on rights and privileges.

A democrat is an advocate of democracy.

That is, a Democrat is a person who believes in the political or social equality of all people.

We know this is an accurate definition, because for the past five decades in the South, our friends in the other party have used our commitment to equality as a wedge to turn some people away from our party. It worked so well on race, that our friends in the other party have tried to turn our support for equality for women, gays and others into wedges that they can use not just here but across the country.

In Louisiana, a state where we have 32% African American population and 37% total minority population, this tactic has worked to some extent, but has no long term chances for success here, so long as we remain true to our roots.

Our party, you might have read, no longer constitutes more than 50% of all registered voters in the state. We’ve known for a long time that not all people who are registered as Democrats actually support or event vote for Democrats.

The key to rebuilding our party is to embrace who we are and to run with it.

That is, to return to our great Democratic tradition of standing up for equality for all people. We stand for equality for women, for African Americans, for Asians, for Hispanics. We stand for equality of gays. We stand up for those who cannot defend themselves. The poor. The elderly. The infirm.

But also for the people who are the foundation upon which the wealth of this nation was built and continues to be produced. The people who build our roads; who clean our schools and offices; the people who wash those fancy cars; who mow those beautiful lawns; who work two or three jobs to ensure that the lives of their kids will be better than their own; those who teach our children; who work in the oil patch; those people who work countless hours trying to turn their small businesses into a bigger one.

Standing up for those people is the work that once defined us as a party. And that history shows the way up off the canvass and back into the fight.

Our friends in the other party like to defend the people they call “the job creators.” Fair enough — although they don't seem to be doing it very well now. But, let’s call the hard working people that we defend by their true name — They are the wealth creators. Nothing more and damned sure nothing less. These are our people — The people Democrats need to stand up for, to defend, to protect and to champion.

It is the work that we were called into being to do. It is the work upon which our future depends. If this is work that you are not willing to do, then you’re in the wrong party.

This is the work that makes calling ourselves Democrats meaningful. I'm Mike Stagg and this is what being a Democrat means to me — and I hope to you, as well.

Laying Claim to Louisiana

 

Progressives and Democrats from across Louisiana will gather in Alexandria on Saturday, August 27, to unite behind a strategy to plug grassroots activists into Democratic legislative campaigns this fall.

The event -- "Laying Claim to Louisiana"-- is the first part of a 500-day strategy to renew and revitalize the Louisiana Democratic Party and change the course of electoral politics in the state.

At the core of the strategy is the belief that all politics is local and that the key to renewing the state party is to harness the enthusiasm and passion of Democratic activists who have been motivated and engaged primarily by national campaigns and national issues.

The organizers of the event include officers and members of the Louisiana Democratic Party at the state and parish levels, traditional Democratic constituencies, and the in-state leaders of organizations active in national Democratic campaigns.

The goal is to build a new, working coalition that begins with electoral politics but extends beyond that into joint work on legislative and public policy issues.

The redistricting process completed earlier this year by the Legislature provides a new map from which the leadership of the Louisiana Democratic Party will be elected next year (qualifying is in early December). The state party leadership is going to change because the legislative map has changed.

We will plug in these activists into that new map to bring new vitality and energy into the state party through the election of members to the state party central committee, as well as to parish Democratic executive committees. The aim is to utilize the structure of the Democratic Party to channel the efforts and enthusiasm of the activist base into Louisiana state and local politics. We want to build a functioning political party that can provide resources, technical skills, and people to help Democratic candidates win election across the state.

It's a model that has been shown to work for Democratic parties in other states. Hell, it's worked for the Republican Party in Louisiana.

The election calendar provides the road map to guide this effort. The October 22 primary election and the November 18 runoff provide great opportunities for activists to connect with Democratic legislators and their allies to help those legislators stave off the attacks coming at them from Republicans led by David Vitter and Bobby Jindal.

Many of the activists who have been drawn to politics by national campaigns have not been as active in Louisiana politics. They have been turned off by Democrats who tended to run 'Republican-lite' campaigns. The exodus from the party of many of those candidates combined with the explicit targeting of Democrats by Vitter and his operatives, Democratic candidates must now follow the model of their Republican peers and understand that winning campaigns begin by securing their base — not in trying to themselves from it.

In Alexandria, there will be a list of targeted races presented where activists will be asked to help Democrats win election. That cooperation can serve as the springboard to greater cooperation between the activist wing of the party and legislators who, prior to this year, tended to operate independent campaigns with little or no regard for party.

The explicit external threat posed by Vitter's Louisiana Committee for a Republican Majority has produced a willingness to engage the party's activist base among Democratic legislators that did not heretofore exist.

That opportunity to cooperate shows the path forward for the entire party, not just the legislators.

The entire 500-day plan will be discussed in detail in Alexandria. Keynote speaker Melissa Harris-Perry will put our fight in the national context of other fights in places like Wisconsin and Ohio (the same anti-labor, anti-women, anti-democratic forces at work there, are working with Vitter and Jindal here).

The days of Democrats being able to hide their party label are over -- Vitter and the Republicans have seen to that. The path forward is to embrace to our party. We are the only multi-racial, pro-middle class, pro-education, pro-small business party in our state.

If we lay claim to our party, we can once again lay claim to our state.

See you in Alexandria on Saturday!

Louisiana Democrats Paying the Price of 'The Whittington Tax'

It is the middle of 2009, the middle of a heated national debate about monumental issues like healthcare reform, energy policy, and re-regulating the financial industry. There is an incumbent Republican United State Senator up for re-election next year who has moral and ethical problems that would put even other Republican members of the Senate to shame. The seat is there for the taking (with a fight, no doubt, but more winnable than anyone had expected it to be after Vitter won re-election in 2004).

We have a Republican Governor who trashed federal stimulus spending while bragging about the state's economic performance — which has been fueled by years of federal disaster relief dating back to the storms of 2005 and those since. That same governor is in the process of dismantling the public health delivery system by shutting down public hospitals — a long-cherished dream of Republicans and a mission that Jindal has pursued since his days working for Mike Foster.

But, the Louisiana Democratic Party is no where to be found in any of this. Not standing up for our President. Not working with candidates to develop a strategy to take Vitter's seat. Not pointing out Jindal's budgetary hypocrisy (fueled by his apparently incurable case of Blind Ambition). Not working with legislators and local government leaders to deal with the upcoming reapportionment of political districts after the 2010 Census.

The party's absence is directly attributable to the person who sits as chairman, Christopher Whittington. The actions of the executive director Whittington hired as part of his re-election bid has made the party the target of at least two lawsuits.

The highly regarded communications director left shortly after the executive director did.

The entire staff of the party consists of two people, neither of which has any executive power. They are merely at the party's Government Street headquarters in Baton Rouge to turn the lights on and off, answer the phone and get the mail.

The Jefferson/Jackson Dinner in Baton Rouge two weeks ago was a farce. James Carville spoke, but for less than 10 minutes. There were no statewide elected officials in attendance. Senator Mary Landrieu was not there. There were about seven members of the state Legislature in attendance. The event started late and ended early. The speaking ended before 8 p.m. Had Rep. Karen Carter Peterson not given a stem-winder of an address that out-lasted Carville's talk, the event would have lasted less than 30 minutes.

Word is now that Whittington has said that the party will not hire an executive director at this critical time, that "we are going to take a vacation from that."

Imagine that. A political organization taking a vacation from political work.

Anyone who has watched Whittington fight to keep his job while letting the party's work wither will not find this as a surprise. Whittington's fight has always been about keeping control of the party apparatus so that he and his cronies can keep control of the money and the favors that flow through the state party during election cycles.

The crony list includes lawyers, consultants and various hangers-on.

Meanwhile, the party does not do the basic work of crafting a message, registering voters, and winning elections.

But, that's OK with Whittington because, again, this is not about politics. It's about control of money and favors.

There are people on the Democratic State Central Committee and even on the party's executive committee whose efforts guaranteed Whittington's re-election who are now said to be disenchanted with the course things have taken. That course is no different now than it was when they worked and voted for Whittington; he is still playing the same game only now those former allies find that Whittington does not care about the party and its fate. They are shocked! Shocked I tell you! That this petty little man has turned on them.

The sad fact is that the party's constitution and by-laws are such a shambles that any attempt to oust Whittington is a waste of time and effort. He and his various legal advisors twist the interpretation of those rules to make them say whatever it is that serves Whittington's puprposes.

This is not a political organization. This is not a political party. It is a club run by an ever-shrinking group of insiders who are determined to hold control of the organization for the sole purpose of demonstrating that they can.

Every additional day that Chris Whittington holds the otherwise meaningless title of "Chairman" of the Louisiana Democratic Party is further proof of his complete and total disregard for the well-being of the party and its interests.

Chris Whittington has brought this party to the bring of ruin. Why is he holding on? Why is the state central committee letting him?

Can Louisiana Democrats Pass this Test?

The New York Times reports that Barack Obama and his advisers believe they can pick up electoral votes in the South in this fall's presidential election.

The article takes a somewhat skeptical view of this strategy and quotes a strategist or two not connected with the Obama campaign to explain why this won't work.

Obama is right. And, Louisiana can be one of the states that move back into the Democratic column when the Electoral College meets to elect the next president.

Here's the bit of the story that jumped out at me:

In 1996, for example, Mr. Clinton got the votes of 36 percent of Southern whites and 87 percent of Southern blacks, and carried 5 of the 13 Southern states.

There are two things that are relevant in that sentence. The first is that Louisiana was one of those five Southern states that Bill Clinton carried — he did it twice (1992 and 1996). He is also the last Democratic presidential candidate to spend media and campaign money in Louisiana after the nominating convention. Is it just a coincidence that no Democrat since Clinton has been elected president?

The other part that jumps out is that the percentage of votes that Clinton got from Southern white and blacks fits the broad outlines of the modern Democratic formula for statewide success in Louisiana. The formula, established by Edwin Edwards and proven by other Democrats in the nearly 40 years since it was established is this: a Democrat needs to carry about 90 percent of the African American vote and just a bit more than 30 percent of the white vote in order to win election.

This formula has broken down somewhat in recent years as a string of increasingly conservative Democratic candidates emerged via the open primary system. Over time, the appeal of these candidates among Democratic African American voters has waned as the perception arose that white candidate pledges of responsiveness to the interests of these voters was rhetoric, at best.

This has fed a resentment among African American voters towards white candidates that manifests itself in distrust ("why do they only come around here during election time?") or indifference as expressed in declining voter turnout among African Americans in state elections.

African American turnout has not fallen as precipitously in federal elections, in part because the lines between the parties are more sharply drawn at the federal level than in state politics.


Louisiana voters (white and black) care more about who gets elected president than we do about who gets elected governor, as turnout in presidential elections runs 15 percent higher than elections for governor. Could it be that our open primary system, which was supposed to polarize our politics on the extremes, has actually watered down out politics to the point of diluting it of meaning? If voter turnout is an indicator, there may be something to this line of thought.

A Historic Moment

Whatever else might be said about the upcoming election it is that this will not be politics as usual. Barack Obama is the first African American to become the nominee of a major party in this country. His campaign and its message have inspired African Americans to turnout in primaries in record number. But, his appeal has not been built on race and that is why his campaign has succeeded where other African American campaigns for president in the Democratic Party have not.

But, the question at hand is this: Can Barack Obama carry Louisiana this fall?

Judging by the numbers that Bill Clinton drew and by the outlines of the traditional Louisiana Democratic formula for victory, the answer is a resounding "Yes!"

Yes, we can put Louisiana's nine electoral votes in the Obama column.

No doubt African American turnout in Louisiana will be at historic levels. Voter registration among African Americans has been growing all year. Concerted efforts are underway to push those numbers still higher as the historic opportunity becomes clear.

The real test, though, will be for white Louisiana Democrats. As everyone knows, a high percentage of whites who are registered Democrats rarely vote for people carrying the party label. Why these people continue to cling to the label of a party to which they have such tenuous connections (if not outright disdain) is beyond the scope of this piece, but might well earn someone a Ph.D.

But, can Obama attract the votes of about 1/3 of white voters in order to carry our state as Edwin Edwards, John Breaux, Kathleen Blanco and Bill Clinton did? Or, put the other way, have about 1/3 of the white voters in this state moved beyond the prejudices that are loose in our culture and can they then bring themselves to vote to elect Barack Obama president of the United States?

This is the test of our party and its leadership at this historic moment.
Work To Be Done

As we have seen in recent weeks, there is substantial tension in the party between African American office holders and the party leadership over the perceived preference the party gives to white candidates in campaigns where African American candidates are also running. The current flash points are the 4th and 6th congressional districts where there is virtual parity between white and black registered Democratic voters in those districts (see June voter registration figures below).


The party's decision to open the newly re-established party primary system in federal elections to independents and minor party voters has had the effect of tilting the racial balance in those primaries in favor of whites since independents and small party voters are predominantly white.

We'll know by July 11 whether prominent African American lawmakers Lydia Jackson and Michael Jackson decide to run as independents in the 4th and 6th districts respectively. Doing so would guarantee them spots on the November 4 general election ballot. It would also likely guarantee the election of Republicans to each of those seats. The 6th is held by newly elected Congressman Don Cazayoux. The 4th is an open seat that has a real chance of moving into the Democratic column, but not unless the some kind of accommodation can be made in that district.

In the 7th District, State Senator Donald Cravins, Jr., has declared his candidacy as a Democrat for that congressional seat.

Ultimately, the party must prevent the splintering of its traditional coalition or doom Obama's electoral chances here. The collapse of this coalition would shatter the party and inflict deep — and possibly irreparable — harm.

With African Americans constituting something like 45.71 percent of registered Democrats and (based on the voting behavior of white Democrats) a higher percentage of people who actually vote for Democrats, the end of that coalition will mean the end of the Democratic Party as we know it in Louisiana.

Renewing Our Coalition

In sports, franchises can achieve greatness, fall from the pinnacle and rebuild over time. The New York Yankees, Boston Celtics, and New York Giants are franchises that have done this repeatedly over the decades. The teams and their fans carry the same banner, but the make up of the teams changes over time reflecting changes in the game, the aging of players, and changes in coaching and even ownership.

Louisiana Democrats find ourselves at the lower end of the cycle now, but the path back upward, toward consistent electoral success at the local and state level is clear. We must renew the political coalition that has served us so well, but it must include the willingness of white Democratic contributors as well as voters to wholeheartedly support African American Democratic candidates — just as African American voters wholeheartedly supported Democratic standard bearers in our illustrious past.

The future of this party depends white Democrats getting into the habit of casting their ballots for African American candidates in offices up and down the ballot. If enough of us can get into the habit of doing that, we can not only put Louisiana back in the national Democratic Party column, we can get our party back in the habit of regularly winning elections up and down the ballot all across this state.

We can do this only if we can prove that our coalition is something worth preserving; that it is something more than a one-way street working for the benefit of white Democrats but does not respond to the aspirations of African American political leaders and the people they represent.

The Heart of the Matter

This gets us right to the heart of the matter: race.

It is no accident that the Democratic Party is the party where the first African American presidential nominee has emerged. It was, after all, the Republican Party under Richard Nixon that developed its "Southern Strategy" of exploiting Southern white racial resentment to the Civil Rights movement and the end of segregation. It is a strategy that has been the Republican Party's basic playbook for national politics since 1968.

Barack Obama could only emerge as the nominee of the Democratic Party because our party has been the party of racial inclusion harking back to the days of Franklin Roosevelt. Because Republicans have used race as a tool to divide people for their political advantage, they are not capable of dealing with the impact of racial division in anything other than a politically calculating way.

But, the days are gone when being "not a Republican" was good enough to be considered a good Democrat. The times demand that being a Democrat mean something in the affirmative. That affirmation is a deep and abiding commitment to true multi-racial politics. That means white Democrats electing blacks to office even in districts where whites still hold a majority. It happened here in Lafayette Parish in the District One parish council election of 2007. It can happen anywhere.

It needs to happen in the 7th Congressional District this fall.

As we move deeper into the 21st century, America faces many great challenges. Louisiana, because we trail the nation so badly in so many categories, is doubly challenged. That is not cause for despair, but it is reason to recognize that if we are going to break the bonds that tie us to such this legacy of failure, we will need to draw on the capabilities and talents over every Louisianan.

We can no longer afford the luxury of our prejudices. Because of the history of the two political parties on matters of race over the past half century, only Democrats are capable of delivering that message — and, in so doing, delivering Louisiana into a new era.

Democrats across the country voted in primaries and caucuses to deliver that message. By huge majorities, we rejected racism and we rejected sexism. We declared ourselves ready to redefine our party and our politics. We voted to move into a new era bound not by the politics of fear but inspired by the audacity of hope.

The Choice Before Us

Now, the general election campaign is upon us. White Louisiana Democrats now have a choice to make. We can try to cling to the vestiges of a failed past and find some lame excuse not to embrace Obama's historic candidacy (and, in the process, recommit our nation to another four years of Republican corrupt failure and neglect). Or, we can rise to the occasion, seize the opportunity to launch our nation, our state and our party into a new era of forward looking consensus building.

This test will measure whether white Louisiana voters who call themselves Democrats have truly rejected the Republican siren call of race-based politics. Or, has it just been a game we could play to our advantage because whites and blacks had "their own" political safe zones?

The future of the Democratic Party in Louisiana depends on whether white Democrats can pass this test. For our party to have a future, it must be like the Obama campaign: multi-ethnic, inclusive, and transparent.

Are we up to it?

We're about to find out.

A Smear Campaign! I'm honored!!!

Tonight, someone hiding behind the nom de plume "Michael Hahn" circulated an email alleging that I contributed to Republican Woody Jenkins' campaign in the 6th Congressional District. The email contained the image you see above, which purports to be a money order that I sent to the Jenkins campaign.

There is no doubt that Jenkins got the money. But the money did not come from me.

I have never voted for a Republican — nor ever contributed to a Republican campaign.

This is a smear campaign.

I guess this is my official welcome into Louisiana Democratic Party politics.

Thanks, "Mr. Hahn," for the honor!

To Build the Party, Close the Primary!

The following is the text of an email I sent to the members of the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee today regarding changing current party rules on who gets to vote in our party primaries in the upcoming federal elections. The research on voter registration that I did for this piece led me to make this call to limit voting in our party primary to registered Democrats only.

Dear Fellow Democrat,

I am writing you today on a matter of great urgency to our party.

As you know, qualifying for the federal election cycle is early this year due in no small part to the fact that — for the first time in decades — Louisiana will use party primaries to determine the nominees of the two major parties who will face each other in the Senate and Congressional races in the November 4 presidential election.

There will be one major difference in the way Louisiana Democrats and Republicans choose our respective nominees: Republicans will choose their nominees in a party-only primary; Louisiana Democrats are going to have to compete with independents and others to determine who will represent our party in those November races.

Considering the substantial rebuilding work ahead of us, I believe it is a mistake to give people who have no allegiance to our party so much control over who represents us.

I am asking you to use your position as a member of the Democratic State Central Committee to call for the party to change its party primary participation rules before qualifying opens in July.

No laws need to be changed to change this rule. The decision to open the party primaries to non-Democrats was made last year, before you and I became officers in the Louisiana Democratic Party (I'm an elected member of the Lafayette Democratic Executive Committee).

There is no evidence that it reflects or complies with the views and wishes of the newly constituted DSCC because it has not been a matter for discussion at DSCC meetings — despite the impact it will have on our party in the upcoming federal elections.

Please call or email LDP Chairman Chris Whittington and LDP Executive Director Britton Loftin to convene the DSCC in emergency session within two to three weeks so that this topic can be thoroughly discussed, debated and decided.

This is too important a question and the stakes are too high for this to be left in the hands of the executive committee alone. It demands the attention and input of the largest organized body in the party and that is the Democratic State Central Committee.

Rebuilding our party means making being a Democrat mean something both for voters and for candidates. We saw some of that in the spring presidential primary when many non-Democrats learned that it took being a member of our party in order to vote for the most progressive candidates in the presidential field.

We have the opportunity in these federal elections (the only elections where party primaries are allowed under Louisiana law) to re-enforce that message by making clear to voters that if they want to have a chance to choose between the best candidates in the fields in the various congressional races this fall, they'll have to be members of our party in order to do so. I'm hoping there is no need for a party primary in the race for Senator Mary Landrieu's U.S. Senate seat.

Whatever benefits the party might gain by allowing others to control our federal candidate selection process is far outweighed by the costs this decision imposes on our party.

Opening our party primaries to non-Democrats dilutes the votes of our party's most reliable constituents and most ardent activists. It insults them and denigrates their loyalty to this party. Rather than dilute the impact of these party loyalists on our candidate selection process, our party should use these primaries to reward our base and our activists by giving them more — not less — influence over the processes that determine who will carry our party's standard in the general election. That's how you build a party!

I'm sure that we all sought office in the party in order to build it into the effective political operation that we have not seen in recent years. I believe that building our state party depends on building upon the efforts that we are making in our respective communities to build up our local party infrastructure.

When you signed up to run for a seat on the DSCC you were indicating your willingness and commitment to work to build this party; that you had some idea as to how that might be done. I don't believe you got elected in order to sit back and take orders out of Baton Rouge.

This is our party. This matter goes to the heart of rebuilding our party. Demand that you have your say in how this matter is decided!

Please call or email Chris Whittington and Britton Loftin today. Tell them you want Democrats to be the only voters to determine who will represent our party in the general election this fall. That can only happen if we restrict participation in our party primaries in September and October only to registered Democratic voters.

The current rule can be changed — and you can change it! This is our party!

The shortest path to rebuilding our party is to make being a Democrat matter again. That begins by letting Democrats decide who will represent us in the federal general election this fall.

Mike Stagg
At Large Member
Lafayette Parish Democratic Executive Committee

P.S. I welcome your feedback on this issue.

LDP run by Scofflaws?

Is the Louisiana Democratic Party run by scofflaws?

It's beginning to look that way to me.

My March 27th post about the party's Congressional District Caucus elections not complying with state party by-laws did not prompt action by the party to correct the error. Instead, the leadership of the party worked to suppress the post from various moderated Democratic lists "for the good of the party." I've appealed those decisions, but party insiders who benefited from the tainted elections are part of the appeal process, so I'm not hopeful.

The March 27th post also prompted an after-hours phone call from the party chairman, which I missed. I responded to the call by placing a call to his law office the following day, but he did not respond.

So, on Monday, March 31, I composed a letter (PDF) formally calling on the chairman to call Congressional District Caucus elections in the manner called for in the by-laws. As the image of the letter on the right shows, I cc'd copies of the letter to several key officers of the party: the First Vice Chair; the Parliamentarian; the Legal Counsel; the Clerk; and the Executive Director.

The letter said:

Mr. Whittington:

This letter constitutes a formal call for you, as chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party (LDP), to enforce the party's by-laws with regard to the formation and election of leaders for the Congressional District Caucuses.

The March 15th elections of chairs for the LDP's Congressional District Caucuses do not comply with the processes specified in Section 17 of the LDP by-laws. Therefore, the people named as holding the 14 seats on the LDP Executive Committee linked to the election of chairs from the seven respective Congressional District Caucuses cannot be considered duly elected.

The number of seats in question (14) constitutes half of the Executive Committee of the party. The failure to provide for elections in compliance with the party by-laws for the Congressional District Caucuses undermines the credibility of the party. The failure to follow the by-laws in these elections also undermines the legitimacy of the Executive Committee and the credibility of its actions.

As a member of the party and as a duly elected member of Lafayette Parish Democratic Executive Committee, I call upon you, the other officers of the LDP Executive Committee, and your staff to follow the instructions provided in Section 17 of the by-laws to convene the Congressional District Caucuses and to then conduct the elections for the offices of the caucuses in compliance with Section 17.

This is not about personalities; it is about process.

Adhering to clearly delineated party processes as specified in the party Constitution and By-Laws builds confidence in the party's systems and legitimacy for the party itself.

Sincerely
Mike Stagg

I mailed the letter to the chairman via certified mail with a signed return receipt (PDF). The image on the right is the receipt for payment of the service and the signed proof of receipt that was returned to me today (April 3).

As the March 27th post explained, this is a matter of "shall" dictating party actions at one point in the March 15th meeting of the Democratic State Central Committee but that same "shall" being declared optional later in the meeting.

This is the very kind of opportunism that created the notion that the LDP is a club operated by party insiders for the benefit of party insiders.

Duly elected LDP officials have been formally notified that the Congressional District Caucus elections held on March 15th do not comply with party by-laws and, therefore, are not valid. They have no excuse for not enforcing those by-laws.

The party website indicates no change in the status of those seated via those invalid elections.

Is the party leadership committed to building the party, as they say? Or, are they scofflaws who can only gain power through manipulation of party processes?

This is not about personalities. A number of the people claiming those 14 seats are friends and acquaintances. It is about building a true party that operates transparently in a manner that builds trust and confidence in party institutions among the members.

So, far, the LDP's leadership is failing this test.

The LDP's Congressional District Caucus Elections Were Not Valid

The Louisiana Democratic Party (LDP) held elections for Congressional District Caucus chairs when the Democratic State Central Committee (DSCC) met in Baton Rouge on March 15 to elect the officers for the party Executive Committee.

Those Congressional District Caucus elections were not carried out in accordance with the party by-laws governing elections for those positions. The results of those votes, then, are not valid.

The party by-laws (PDF) provide specific guidance for how these 14 seats (two for each of the state's congressional districts) are to be filled. That can be found in Section 17 — Congressional District Caucuses, which reads in full:

A. Congressional District Caucuses shall be held in each of the State's Congressional Districts. These Caucuses shall be held for the purpose of electing representatives from each Congressional District to serve as members of the Executive Committee of the Democratic State Central Committee. A Congressional District Caucus shall be subordinate to the Democratic State Central Committee and shall not endorse candidates for public office.

B. A Congressional District Caucus shall be comprised of members of the Democratic State Central Committee who reside in and are registered to vote in the Congressional District. In addition, a Chairperson or First Vice-Chairperson of a Democratic Parish Executive Committee shall be a member of the Caucus in the Congressional District in which he/she resides and is registered to vote. All Caucus members shall be eligible for election as officers of the Caucus or as a Congressional District Representative to the Executive Committee of the Democratic State Central Committee.

C. The Chairperson of the Democratic State Central Committee shall call a meeting of each Congressional District Caucus no later than sixty (60) days following the organizational meeting of the Democratic State Central Committee on a date and at a place to be designated by the Chairperson. Members of the Caucuses shall be given at least ten (10) days advance notice of the date, time, and place of the meeting and shall be provided with the name, address, and to the extent possible, the telephone number of each Caucus member in his/her respective District when notice of the meeting is given. Caucus members present at the time of the meeting shall constitute a quorum.

D. Officers of each Congressional District Caucus shall be a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson, who shall be of the opposite sex of the Chairperson, and a Secretary. Each Caucus shall be represented on the Executive Committee of the Democratic State Central Committee by two members, one male and one female. The Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, and Secretary of a Caucus may also be elected to serve as a Caucus Representative to the Executive Committee of the Democratic State Central Committee. (Emphasis added.)

The "shall's" that are highlighted here are crucial.

As those of us who attended the March 15 DSCC meeting learned, "shall" is a powerful word. It is, according to the party chairman (Chris Whittington), the party legal counsel (Kenny Hooks), and the party parliamentarian (Sen. Derrick Shepherd), immutable. There is, they each said at various times that day, no way around "shall."

It is not a suggestion; it is a commandment.

So, Section 17 of the by-laws directs the party to hold these caucuses and the elections in the respective congressional districts and it lays out how this is to take place.

That section directs that these caucus meetings shall be held within 60 days after the creation of the new executive committee. That is, the person who served as chairman prior to March 15 could not convene these caucuses. The could be convened only by the new chairman and after each potential participant in the caucuses had been notified of the time and place of the various caucus meetings which are to be held in their respective congressional districts. There is also a 10-day advanced notice provision that could not be exercised until after the results of the election for chairman were determined.

It's right there in the by-laws. And there are a lot of "shall's" directing how this is to be done.

Having these elections in Baton Rouge around the meeting where the executive committee elections were held does not comply with the state party by-laws.

It does not matter how the party has done it in the past. The by-laws say "shall." There is no wiggle room.

There was an admission of procedural problems with the caucus elections in the 7th Congressional District, at the Tuesday, March 25, meeting of the Lafayette Parish Democratic Executive Committee. At that meeting, DSCC members Stephen Handwerk and Mary Werner told our committee (I'm a member of that committee), that they would hold a new election at a district-wide caucus that would be held sometime in April.

It was a magnanimous gesture that speaks well for them and their commitment to fair election processes in the party.

The other good Democrats who erroneously believe they were elected to similar positions in Baton Rouge at the DSCC meeting should follow Stephen and Mary's lead and agree to step down and re-open the process so that the elections can be held in compliance with the party by-laws.

Newly re-elected party chairman Chris Whittington should act pro-actively to hold elections that will comply with the by-laws by first notifying those who mistakenly believed they were elected to these caucus chair positions on the 15th about the procedural error that allowed these caucuses to occur and those elections to take place. Then, he should work to call and convene the Congressional District Caucuses in the manner prescribed in the by-laws and call for these legitimate elections to be held at the appropriate time and place and in the way directed by the by-laws.

These are not trivial elections. They are for 14 seats on the LDP Executive Committee. Mr. Whittington says he has no agenda, that he does the bidding of the executive committee. These elections, then, are for control of the party.

Breaking a Disturbing Pattern

The casual, off-handed manner in which these Congressional District Caucuses were convened and these votes held is part of a disturbing pattern of disregard by Mr. Whittington and others on the executive committee for the sanctity and importance of elections as vehicles for conveying legitimacy.

While power, prestige and other assets accrue to the victors of elections, the victors do not win the right to pass judgment on the legitimacy of the process. That right is retained by the vanquished. It is a principle well established in international law (thus, opposition parties frequently call in international monitors to observe election processes for their transparency and fairness).

We've also seen a stark demonstration of this fact in our own country in recent years. In the eyes of the American public, Al Gore's decision in December 2000 to abide by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision handing the presidency to George Bush cast more legitimacy on that decision and Bush's ascendancy was absolutely essential to the acceptance of that decision and that outcome.

Since February, Louisiana Democrats have engaged in three elections — the February 9th party primary; the March 1 party convention delegate elections; and, the March 15 state party executive committee elections.

It is both ironic and disturbing that the election in which there was the most confidence in both the process and the result was the February 9th election that was run by the Louisiana Secretary of State's office, which happens to be held by a Republican.

The delegate selection election was a farce. One of three polling places in Lafayette never opened. There were stories from across the state of un-tended ballot boxes, of delegate candidates campaigning at the ballot boxes, and people shuttling ballots between cities.

The party executive committee elections reeked of manipulation due to the fact that 27 people were appointed to the DSCC and allowed to vote for officers even though candidates other than the incumbent chairman and his cronies knew who these appointees were. To top that off, some of the appointees were allowed to vote by proxy without ever having seen or heard from any candidates other than those aligned with the chairman's ticket.

The failure of the party leadership to provide transparent and fair processes to govern party elections undermines confidence in the results of those elections and, thus, the party itself.

Democrats believe in fair elections. The way to ensure that the party is unified is for the party to conduct its business and its elections in a fair and transparent way. That approach will build confidence in the party and its leadership.

The Congressional District Caucus elections held on March 15 do not comply with the party by-laws. The results, therefore, are not valid. The Congressional District Caucus elections need to be carried out in a manner that complies with the by-laws. Doing this is an essential step toward building new confidence in the party's leadership that recent elections have done so much to undermine.

Where I've Been

As some may have noticed, I have not made a post since the March 15 election of officers for the Louisiana Democratic Party. It was a bitterly disappointing day. Not just because my candidate for party chair lost, but also because of the manner in which the meeting was conducted.

In short, it is clear that the people who currently run the Louisiana Democratic Party are people who believe that elections are charades to be tolerated on the path to pre-determined outcomes.

On at least three occasions since that meeting I decided to leave the party because I did not feel it was worth the effort of working to save it from its own bad instincts. I talked myself out of it the first time. Friends talked me out of it on the other two occasions.

A factor in the process of deciding to stay was the matter of what I would do if I did stay. I decided I would not stay if I did not believe I could continue to work to change the party.

Despite all the anger I felt after the March 15th LDP meeting, the basic fact is that there is a core group of people on the state central committee and in the parish executive committees who are committed to the longer fight of transforming this party. I decided that my desire to be part of that effort was stronger than the revulsion I felt as a result of the lies, betrayal, and opportunism displayed by people I once respected.

So, I've decided to say and fight.

Let's get at it!

Whittington proves he is unfit to serve

Chris Whittington has resorted to subterfuge in a desperate attempt to hold on to his job as chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party (LDP).

He must be stopped.

Whittington's subterfuge became apparent only on Tuesday of this week, four days before the election for party officers. On that day, the Louisiana Democratic Party released a list of appointments made by Whittington to fill 27 of the 41 vacancies on the DSCC.

Whittington's defenders say that he did not try to "pack" those slots with people favorable only to him.

I don't believe that. One person personally told me that she was offered a seat on the DSCC if she would support Whittington's re-election. The offer came from a sitting member of the LDP executive committee who lives in the same House district as this woman. I don't believe this offer has been the exception; I believe it has been the rule.

The "not packing" argument also misses the point by a mile.

The point is that for the past four months, as Whittington has been assembling this list of hand-picked potential DSCC members, he and his camp have been the only parties to the LDP election that have access to the names on that list. Other candidates for chair (as well as other offices) were denied access to that pool of voters.

These are not the acts of a person interested in conducting a fair election. These are the acts of a person determined to use any means necessary -- legitimate or otherwise -- in order to hold power. One can only wish he'd used as much imagination and creativity against Republicans last year that he's using against fellow Democrats in this race.

This goes to the heart of the ability of the LDP to conduct an open and fair election. The 27 people Whittington wants to appoint constitute a captive constituency who have not been exposed to or heard from the other candidates for chairman in the race. Those people constitute almost 16 percent of the total of the DSCC and, if allowed to vote, would constitute almost 14 percent of all votes cast.

This is more than enough votes to change the outcome of this closely contested election.

BACKGROUND

To understand what Whittington is attempting, one must go back to December of 2007 when Democrats across the state filed to run for seats on the Democratic State Central Committee (DSCC). Theoretically, the DSCC is governing body of the LDP. It has 210 seats (two for every House district in the Louisiana Legislature; one seat for a male, one seat for a female).

When qualifying ended in December, there were 41 seats for which no one had submitted qualifying papers and fees.

With the party coming off a disastrous round of state elections in which we lost the governor's office, the secretary of state, the commissioner of insurance, and the commissioner of agriculture and forestry, dissatisfaction with Whittington's performance was running high (and still does).

The race for chairman has turned into a hotly contested six-candidate field, with Whittington trying to fend off challenges from Paul Aucoin (running with the support of U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, Congressman Charles Melancon, and Lt. Gov. Mitchell Landrieu), Opelousas Mayor Donald Cravins Sr., Larry Ferdinand, William Sumlin, and Dr. Steve Kirkikis. I've endorsed Mayor Cravins.

It is widely believed within the party that Aucoin and Cravins have the votes to force a run-off that might not include Whittington. That belief, though, is based on the idea that there are 169 eligible voters who will cast their ballots when the DSCC meets this Saturday in Baton Rouge.

Questions arose about how those 41 vacancies would be filled shortly after the end of the December qualifying period. One party officer assured me personally and others publicly that, according to the state party by-laws, the vacancies could not be filled until after the election of the new slate of officers.

That view is based on Article I, Section 9 of the Party By-laws, which reads:

Section 9 - Election of Officers

At the first meeting following the election of new members of the Democratic State Central Committee, the newly-elected members shall elect officers for the Party in accordance with the Louisiana Election Code and the Louisiana Democratic Party Constitution. (Emphasis added.)

Under this rule, only the DSCC members who qualified for office but were unopposed or who won election to the DSCC in the February 9 election could vote on the new slate of officers, including the chairman.

But, Whittington and his coterie of lawyers cite Article I, Section 4 of the by-laws that call for the chairman to fill vacancies as soon as possible after they occur. That section reads:

Section 4 - Vacancies

A. A vacancy occurs in the membership of the Democratic State Central Committee when a member dies, resigns, no longer meets the qualifications for membership on the Committee, or no one qualifies and is elected to succeed a member whose four-year term has expired.

B. In the case of a vacancy on the Democratic State Central Committee, the Chairperson of the Democratic State Central Committee shall appoint a member to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term subject to the approval of a majority of the membership of the Democratic State Central Committee in attendance at a legally constituted meeting. The person(s) appointed must meet the guidelines provided in the Louisiana Democratic Party Constitution for membership on the Democratic State Central Committee and shall be required to pay a filing fee equal to the Party fee assessed by the Parish Clerk of Court as set forth in La. Rev. Stat. Title 18:464. Such filing fee shall be shared equally between the Democratic State Central Committee and the Parish Executive Committee from where the appointed member resides. All persons appointed may serve as temporary members until ratified at the first order of business by a majority vote of the Democratic State Central Committee.

These two sections provide some ambiguity as to the proper course for seating new members, but for Whittington to act unilaterally and with such stealth are what call his motives into question and raise questions about his suitability for office.

FAIRNESS & TRANSPARENCY DENIED

The issue is that Whittington has concealed the list of appointments and, thus, denied his competitors access to voters who will decide his own fate as party chair. He has denied his competitors — and the party — the benefit of a fairly contested election.

The official response of Whittington and his backers is that "everyone who's been on the committee for a while knows that this is how we handle these matters." Whittington's supporters like to portray him as something of a reformer in the party. But, replacing one club with the members of another club is not reform. It is a coup.

What this party needs is open and transparent processes, which generate trust and confidence among its members. Whittington's attempt to manipulate this election ignore that need and, in fact, will do great damage to the members' confidence in the party and its leaders.

His acts fail the test of transparency and fairness necessary to bestow legitimacy on the results of any election.

If these heretofore-secret DSCC members are allowed to vote, the outcome will be tainted because of the way Whittington restricted access to this pool of potential voters. Imagine being a candidate for a district office and finding out four days before the election that the district boundaries have been expanded by your opponent to increase the size of the district by 16 percent.

This tactic would not pass the standards that international election observers use in second and third world countries where they certify the fairness of elections there. It should not be good enough for the LDP.

By this brazen attempt to steal the election of LDP offices, Chris Whittington has proven that he is not worthy to hold the seat he so desperately wants to keep. It is a clear demonstration that he does not care about the fate of the party; that his sole concern is his own grip on power.

Does he really believe he would have a chairmanship worth having -- one considered legitimate in the eyes of party members -- if he goes through with his plan to manipulate this election?

CONTEMPTIBLE

Whittington's ploy demonstrates wide-ranging contempt for the our party, its members and its traditions.

Whittington shows contempt for Democratic National Committee, which in every national election deploys a phalanx of attorneys as part of its election integrity project to ensure that elections are carried out in a fair and transparent manner across the country.

Whittington's brazen attempt to manipulate this election would not pass the DNC's basic test for fairness. To hear him talk about his commitment to "seeing through to completion" projects started by the DNC and then to try to subvert this election is nauseating.

Chris Whittington has demonstrated contempt for the state party at multiple levels. He has demonstrated contempt for:

• the state party election process by denying a level playing field for all candidates;
• the members of the DSCC by not providing them a clear set of rules as to how those vacancies will be filled and how this election will be conducted; and
• all Democrats who took part in the party elections in February in the belief that they were taking part in a meaningful process that could produce a more vibrant party.

Chris Whittington has demonstrated his contempt for, of all things, democratic processes in the Democratic Party.

ETHICALLY UNFIT TO SERVE

On an earlier occasion, I said that my opposition to Whittington was not personal, that it was based on the quality of leadership he had not provided the party during his tenure. This changes that.

It is personal now.

Chris Whittington's attempt to steal this election provides conclusive proof that he is not ethically fit to serve as chairman of this party.

Donald Cravins, Sr., for LDP Chair

In order to be able to seize an opportunity, one must first recognize it.

The Louisiana Democratic Party, just a few months away from a pretty dismal showing in statewide elections, has before it the opportunity to re-invent and re-invigorate itself this year thanks to developments in national party politics to which Louisiana Democrats have already contributed significantly.

The opportunity is not only to re-elect our senior United States Senator and retain our two congressional seats, but to take at least two more congressional seats away from Republicans and place Louisiana firmly back in the Democratic column where it belongs.

In order to seize those opportunities, we cannot play defense. Democrats must be on the offensive, using what will likely be a highly energized party base — with Barack Obama as the national party standard bearer — to re-establish Democratic control of our congressional delegation and to lay the ground work for retaking control of state government in the elections of 2011.

Why We Have Fallen
Louisiana Democrats don't need another voter registration program. What we need is a party and candidates that address and respond effectively to the needs of our core coalition. That coalition is the historic Democratic coalition of African Americans, women and wage earners that dominated Louisiana politics in the last half of the 20th Century.

We must become again the party that stands up for the interests of the men and women who, as Bill Clinton famously put it, "get up every day, go to work and play by the rules." Too often in recent years, Democratic candidates have tried to pass themselves off as "Republican-lite," running campaigns calculated to make them look like Republicans. That might have worked during the open primary days, but the days of that system have already ended in federal elections and are probably numbered at the state level as well.

Party matters. Principle matters. Stand for something or fall for anything. Too often of late, Democrats have been unwilling or unable to say what it is they stand for. "Winning elections" is not an answer to that question; in fact, as we've seen, if this is the answer given the likelihood of actually winning goes down.

Democrats believe that there must be social justice if there is to be social peace.

We believe in the right to a decent living in exchange for work. We believe in the fundamental dignity of our fellow citizens; that every American and every Louisianan has rights and duties as citizens and that it is the availability of those rights and our acceptance of those duties that constitutes the fundamental exchange upon which our success as a country has been and must be built.

We believe that every citizen has the right to a good education that will enable each of us to fully develop the talents that we have inherent in us.

We believe that every citizen has the right to affordable healthcare regardless of their ability to pay.

We believe that we are stewards of this earth and that a fair measure of the value of that stewardship is the quality of the world we turn over to our children and future generations. That means we must care for the environment, but also take care that our social and civic institutions, our communities, and our government nourish and enrich our culture so that the better angels of our being can be called forth to meet the challenges of the day.

We believe in the audacity of hope.

This Great Struggle
We are all participants in a great struggle between freedom and oppression, fear and hope, generosity and greed that is taking place across the planet. The struggle is not new. It has been going on for as long as people have been on this earth.

It is, perhaps, more sharply drawn on the national level where a string of Democratic candidates for president have articulated platforms and programs that have had the unifying trait of being fundamentally optimistic and appealing to America's steadfast hope for the future.

That hope has trickled down into Louisiana. It inspired record turnout in the February presidential preference primary. And that hope is coiling like a might spring waiting to be unleashed to send America bounding on a new course and the challenge facing Louisiana Democrats today is to capture the energy that has been unleashed here, yes, to win elections — but not only just to win elections!

The opportunity that Louisiana Democrats have today is to capture that coiled energy that is fired by candidates at the national level and focus enough of it inward into Louisiana so that we can remake our party and, in the process, our state.

Louisiana Democrats lose elections when they don't give voters compelling reasons to vote for them; when they don't inspire voters; when they don't draw sharp enough distinctions between themselves and their Republican opposition.

If Louisiana Democrats are going to tap the energy that these national campaigns have injected into our core constituencies, our party must align itself with the issues, interests, and themes that have fired that energy and hope.

We must return to being the party of the people. We must regain the understanding that well-financed campaigns devoid of principles produce candidates who don't stir the base and who don't inspire voter loyalty.

I'm not saying that money is not important. Money is essential to successful campaigns. But, what this historic moment fired by inspirational candidates focused on messages of change presents Louisiana Democrats, is the opportunity to remake our party in the image of the most successful of these campaigns — a tech-savvy party built on the passion of grassroots activists, fueled by small but steady donors and by heavy hitting contributors.

This is the model Howard Dean's campaign created in 2004. It's the model he's taken to the Democratic National Committee. It's the model that Democrats across the country used to win 'un-winnable' congressional elections in 2006. And, it's the model upon which the Obama and John Edwards campaigns employed successfully this election cycle.

The Leader We Need
Louisiana Democrats need a leader who is a match for the times; who recognizes the historic opportunity before us; and who is up to the challenge that we now confront.

The 2007 statewide elections marked the end of several political eras in Louisiana with the retirement (forced and otherwise) of a number of long-time Democratic leaders. A new generation of Democratic leaders is set to emerge; leaders unburdened by the past failures (perceived or real) of previous Democratic leaders. These new leaders deserve — and will need — a new Democratic Party that can work with them to advance the Democratic agenda.

In order to do this, the party needs new leadership, committed to a new business model for the party. One that will operate it as a party and not a club. A party open to activists and donors alike. The party needs a leader committed to bringing the activist base and the big donor base — "the streets" and "the suites" — together into a single, unified, powerful organization.

We need a leader with the experience and insight to see the big picture and grasp the significant detail. We need a leader who is both tough and smart who sees the potential of this party and who is committed to turning that potential into reality.

I believe we need Donald Cravins, Sr., to be the chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party.

Why Donald Cravins Sr.?
Donald Cravins, Sr., is nobody's fool.

He's served in the Legislature in both the House and the Senate, and is now serving his first term as mayor of the City of Opelousas. He was in the insurance business for a number of years, running agencies that bore his name in Opelousas and Lafayette. His son Donald Jr. now serves in the Louisiana Senate.

Throughout his career, Donald Cravins has always run grassroots campaigns. He has built campaigns from the bottom up and, in the process, cultivated new leaders who have now emerged onto the scene in St. Landry and Lafayette parishes.

He's a fighter who doesn't like to lose. He's got a keen sense for strategy and tactics.

He knows Louisiana politics from a position that only a few do — as a candidate and as an officeholder.

Donald Cravins was not looking to run for this seat. The opportunity came to him.

I had lunch with his brother Charles several weeks ago in Opelousas. I had requested the meeting because I felt that there was something missing the conversations then taking place about the chairmanship. What was missing were the voices of Louisiana's African American political leaders. I got to know Charles a bit during my 2006 congressional race.

At that lunch meeting in Opelousas, I explained to Charles what — to me — appeared to be missing in the conversation about the chairmanship. We discussed the just-passed presidential primary, the coming federal elections and the possibilities that the fall election presented to Democrats.

I explained my view that I believed the party was faced with a poor choice for chairmanship because the major candidates were essentially a replay of the election that took place two years ago. In my view, that re-run quality ignored the work that many Democratic activists have done in and for the party since that earlier election.

Charles asked me if I was interested in the job. I told him that some people had discussed it with me but that I was a realist and recognized that a successful candidate would have to have more standing in the party than I have.

He then asked me, "Is this a job that you think Donald could do?"

And it hit me. Not only is this a job that Donald Cravins could do — he is the ideal person for the job!

Charles talked with the mayor about the job and told me later that day that Donald was willing to have his name mentioned as a potential candidate.

The response has been both as I expected and surprising. It has been as I expected in that I sensed from conversations that the re-run of the race two years ago is not a race for chairman that has inspired much passion or excitement. The surprising part has been the truly enthusiastic response so many people have given when we've discussed the idea.

Hope and Fear
As a Democrat, my hope has been that our state party would eventually recognize the need to return to its principles and to change its business model in order to capture the energy and passion that grassroots activists have brought to Democratic campaigns in other parts of the country and to the national party itself.

I believe that Donald Cravins, Sr., is the person who can lead this transformation now. He will bring to the chairmanship the necessary sense of urgency that can enable Louisiana Democrats to tap the energy that the national campaign has and this can turn what could have been a long and arduous process into a speedy transformation.

He is the right man for the job at this moment in our party's history.

I know that there are Democrats out there who are scared by the idea of Donald Cravins becoming the head of the party. They need not be. The party is in desperate need of Donald's bluntness, knowledge and political skill right now. Those are the skills that will be needed to orchestrate what can be the highest turnout election in Louisiana since the Edwards/Duke race into Democratic victories for Senator Landrieu, Congressmen Melancon and Jefferson, as well as new victories in the Fourth, Sixth, and possibly other districts in our state.

I predict that in the next few weeks the fears of those Democrats will dissipate as they see the impact Donald's leadership will have on the party.

I predict, however, that in the next few months a new group will come to fear Donald's leadership. These people are Republicans. They will fear Donald's leadership because they will recognize that their days of being the only truly organized political party in Louisiana are over.

The election of no other candidate for party chair can inspire even the mildest discomfort among Republicans.

Our party leadership should reflect the party's make up. African American voters constitute 46 percent of registered Democrats in this state and they usually constitute a higher percentage of Democratic votes than that. They are the core constituency of this party. White Democrats need to get comfortable with that fact and get comfortable with the fact that the party's leadership must do more than just pay lip service at election time to that constituency.

We are approaching a historic moment in American politics. If we are smart enough and tough enough, Louisiana Democrats can be part of that historic moment and write some history of our own.

The opportunity is there. Donald Cravins recognizes. He is up to the task. The question for the rest of Louisiana Democrats is this: Are we up to it?

If we are, then Donald Cravins is the man to lead us.

Essay: Who Will Lead Us?

There is a lot of talking and maneuvering going on across the state now about who will be the next chair of the Louisiana Democratic Party (LDP).

It’s all interesting but most of it misses the point because the focus started on the candidates for the job instead of the tasks at hand.

The person best suited to lead the LDP can’t be identified without first identifying what those tasks are. Here’s what they are — and what those tasks will demand of our next party leader — from where I sit.

Three Essential Tasks

The next LDP chair faces three essential tasks in the coming year, all of which will demand immediate attention. They are, in order: 1) rebuild and re-unify the party; 2) serve as the leader of the opposition party in this state; and 3) win elections.

1) Rebuilding & Re-unifying the Party

Despite the fact that this is a presidential election year and there are three open congressional seats up for grabs across the state, the primary job of next LDP chair is to rebuild a party apparatus that has atrophied at the state level and all but disappeared at the local level.

Why? Because a strong party apparatus is the foundation upon which successful campaigns are built.

Louisiana’s open primary system enabled Democrats to forget the lesson. The party primary system has been restored in federal elections, opening the door — and creating the need — for strong party organizations.

The success of Republican candidates across Louisiana in recent years has been built on an active party base that produces volunteers and dollars to support the party’s candidates in all kinds of races. These are the people whose first question is not "Can you win?" but is instead "How can i help?"

If Democrats are going to get back in the habit of winning elections, we need to focus our efforts on rebuilding the party’s infrastructure in our state. Democrats need to get back into the habit of asking first how they can help. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) understands this and, under the leadership of Howard Dean, has spent considerable money trying to help parties at the state level kick-start and/or advance that work.

Building an effective party means making it open to party activists — partisans — not just those who can write big checks.

A consistent story emerges when you talk to Democrats across Louisiana. It is this: that “the party” turned down their efforts to help; their calls were not returned; they were never contacted to help in campaigns. “The party” acted like what it has really become, a closed club of insiders who the party like it’s a private preserve.

The party leadership continues to treat party activists like we’re a nuisance when, in fact, we are the backbone of the party. The path to success for this party will require party leaders who will work to bridge the gap between the grassroots and the suits, between blacks and whites, and between the progressives and the rednecks.

We all call ourselves Democrats for a reason. The next party leader needs to engage the party faithful in a broad-ranging conversation about why we are all Democrats in order to identify the common ground that unites us under the banner of this party.

Democrats are hungry to know each other. The state party should convene a regular series of regional meetings, conducting campaign workshops in the day for activists and fund-raisers in the evening. The grassroots activists should be included in those fund-raisers and the check-writers should be invited to the workshops. Democrats need to get to know each other and the party is the vehicle needed to do that.

Every Democrat should have a seat at the table. No faction should be excluded.

No small reason for the mess this party is in goes to the matter of race.

In some ways, African American Democrats in Louisiana find themselves being used as fundamentalist Christians are recognizing that Republicans at the national level have used them.

White Democratic leaders in Louisiana have been happy to have African American support and votes but have not been willing to return the favor for African American Democrats when they challenged white Republicans in district and statewide races.

The party needs to elect leaders who break with that past; who send a message that this party is committed to unleashing the potential of our party and our state by tearing down the barriers that separate us.

The best way to ensure that our party is united would be for the leadership of the DLP to reflect its constituents. At least 46 percent of Louisiana voters registered as Democrats are African American; a greater percentage than that provide the votes that elect Democratic candidates. The leadership of the party should reflect the diversity of the party. Either the chair or the executive director should be an African American and/or a woman.

2) Serve as the Leader of the Opposition Party

Effective January 14, the LDP became the opposition party in Louisiana politics. Democrats will not be obstructionists, but the duty falls to our party to help people distinguish between the Jindal/Republican fairy tale and reality. That work should have already started.

There are immediate openings for Democrats to expose Republican hypocrisy on ethics reform, starting with the refusal of the Jindal administration and its Republican allies to tackle campaign finance reform.

During his campaign for governor, Jindal made “ending pay to play” and removing “even the hint of corruption” part of his mantra. Yet, his blue ribbon ethics transition panel ignored the most direct form of pay to play in Louisiana politics — direct contributions from companies either working or seeking to do business with government. Jindal’s own campaign garnered significant sums of money directly from corporations.

Republicans benefited from the ability and willingness of people who lead companies to write checks to back their candidacies. Corporate campaign contributions fail both the Jindal promise to end “pay to play” and the “hint of corruption” standard that he pitched voters during the campaign.

There is also the matter of the heavy contributions from nursing home owners that went both to the Jindal campaign and the political action committee operated by now-Speaker Jim Tucker. Were there any policy discussions that took place in connection with those contributions? There are big state policy issues that affect nursing homes. They were certainly in the Jindal and Republican camps. What is the connection between that money and those policies? Only the LDP has the standing to raise those issues.

Jindal’s campaign also benefited greatly from the bundling of LLC contributions that pushed the boundaries of legality on campaign contribution caps. Again, more than a hint of corruption here, but no Jindal administration action will be forthcoming on this.

There is also the matter of the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office sharing its database management company with the Louisiana Committee for a Republican Majority (LCRM) during the election. What was the nature of the work that GCR & Associates was performing for the Secretary of State and what was the nature of the work it was performing for the LCRM? Was the Secretary of State’s database turned into an arm of the Republican statewide campaign in 2007? This matter goes to the heart of free and fair elections.

Ethics reform was a major rallying cry for those who led the Jindal campaign and its satellite operations (like the BluePrint). Democrats are in position to either push Jindal towards real reform or reveal the pitch to have been a scam. This is a task for the next leader of the Louisiana Democratic Party.

The LDP charter calls for the party to engage in research, the kind of which could turn these items into major issues for Democrats as we begin the four-year long effort to strip away the myth of Jindal and Republican competence and honesty. That work will require a commitment and thoroughness that appears beyond the capacity of the current leadership of the party.

3) Winning Elections

There will be no fewer than three open seats in the Louisiana Congressional delegation this year. Democrats need to be organized and motivated to help Democrats challenge and win in every one of those races. The best way to provide help is to revitalize the local party infrastructure, helping parish executive committees reconstitute themselves where needed and function more efficiently where they already exist.

Convening Democrats across the state could make a difference in these races and could speed the process of re-energizing the party at the local level. In races where multiple Democrats qualify to run, the party should ensure that each Democratic candidate has access to all the tools at the state party’s disposal, including databases of voters, volunteers and contributors.

If the party is strong at the parish level, it can help candidates for congress as well as help to re-elect our Democratic U.S. Senator.

The old days of leaving the business of organizing campaigns solely to candidates died with the death of the open primary system in federal elections. Success in 2008 will require that Democrats return to building campaigns — and the party — from the ground up.

Running strong campaigns in the congressional races on tap for this year is one way of ensuring that the national Democratic ticket not only campaigns in Louisiana, but also spends money in Louisiana right through November. The last Democratic presidential campaign to spend money in Louisiana late into the campaign was Bill Clinton’s 1996 campaign. He carried Louisiana and won re-election.

In the intervening years, the national party abandoned our state and left the field to the Republican message.

That is one big reason why Louisiana has appeared to be a Republican state: Democrats have left a message vacuum, which they filled. Energizing the state and local party, fielding strong campaigns for Congress, running a strong re-election campaign for Senator Landrieu, these are the elements that will bring the national party back into Louisiana and Louisiana back into the fold as a Democratic state.

Who Will Lead Us?

The race for chair of the LDP is not solely about Chris Whittington or the Landrieus. It is about the future of the party for which we all proclaim our loyalty and allegiance. Still, since Whittington is the incumbent and appears committed to trying to keep his job, his record in the job is pertinent to the discussion.

Under Whittington’s watch the party lost the following state offices: governor, secretary of state, commissioner of agriculture and forestry, and commissioner of insurance.

The party also lost the leadership of the House of Representatives.

It failed to build up infrastructure at the party level, despite receiving funding and support from the Democratic National Committee for precisely that work.

The party did raise money but it squandered it on ill-conceived advertising that discredited the party in the eyes of many voters.

It stiffed party activists at all levels, in all regions of the state.

There is no other word to characterize this but failure. It can’t be called leadership.

Despite this record, there are people on the current executive committee of the LDP working frantically to make the case that Whittington should retain his post. In my view, they are confusing their personal interests with the well being of the party. They hope that by helping Whittington keep his job, they can keep their positions. That is legitimate only if you are willing to totally discount the fate of the party.

I know some of these people. They are better Democrats than that. They should stop those efforts now. Whittington’s record speaks for itself. It is indefensible.

The selection of the next chair and executive director will send a message to the party faithful and the general public about who we are as a party and where we are headed. The re-election of Chris Whittington will say that Louisiana Democrats are content with being ineffective failures.

If Not Chris Whittington, Then Who?

It should be clear that the next leader should not come out of the Landrieu camp. Tying the party to the campaign of the highest ranking Democrat on the ticket and ignoring party building is how we got in this mess. Besides, the Landrieus have not been able to find a candidate who can defeat Whittington and their opposition to him has had the unfortunate effect of galvanizing support for him.

So, a framework of sort emerges. First, it can’t be Whittington because the party can’t get the fresh start it needs if it is led by the person responsible for the colossal failures of the recent past. Second, it can’t be a Landrieu person. Third, grassroots activists don’t have the numbers to elect one of our own as chair. We can, however, help decide who that next leader will be (which is a big step up from where we’ve been over the past four years!).

Chris Whittington can do the party a great service by not seeking re-election as chair, but identifying someone from the trial lawyers camp as a possible replacement.

Any and all candidates should be required to publicly declare themselves no later than February 15 — one month before the Democratic State Central Committee (DSCC) meeting where the new leadership will be elected. And, they should be required to provide detailed plans for how they will work to restore the party’s political fortunes.

The Landrieus, who don’t appear to have the votes to defeat Whittington need to quit talking about wanting to help rebuild the party and actually come sit down at the table with the rest of us who have been proclaiming the need for this work for years. You’re either in or you’re out, but come to the table on the same terms as everyone else. Everyone gets a seat and everyone gets a say.

Louisiana Democrats have a real opportunity to jump-start the rebirth of our party right now. But, that can only happen if everyone is willing to put aside their delusions of grandeur, roll up their sleeves, and get to the work at hand.

This ain't no party . . .

If, as the late great Democratic Speaker of the U.S. House Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill once said, "all politics is local," then this graphic explains why the Louisiana Democratic Party is in shambles.

I created this map based on data taken from the Louisiana Secretary of State's website. I went parish-by-parish and compared the number of seats on each Democratic Parish Executive Committee to the number of candidates who are either contesting a seat on those committees, or who won election un-opposed.

Every parish (except Orleans, which has a different model) is awarded five at-large seats. Only 142 of the 315 at-large seats in the 63 parishes that have them will be occupied after the February 9th election.

Every parish also has seats based on the number of seats on the parish governing body, or a multiple of those. In a universe of 671 district-level parish executive committee seats in the state, only 245 of those seats will be filled after the February 9th election.

This is not a political party. This is a club!

This fact alone should justify the dismissal of Chris Whittington as chairperson of the party and Danny Ford as executive director. They have squandered the resources given the state party by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) under chairman Howard Dean's "50-State Strategy" program.

I hear Danny Ford has already decided to leave. Chris Whittington is said to be seeking re-election to the post.

In the real world, when a person is in charge of an operation that is an abject failure, that person usually pays for that failure with their job — unless, of course, that person is an official in the Bush administration, in which case the failure is re-spun as a success or the problems are completely denied.

Mr. Whittington should do the honorable thing and stand down from the chairmanship of the party.

The only thing possibly worse than Mr. Whittington keeping his job would be for an operative of Senator Mary Landrieu's to take over the party chairmanship. This is exactly how we got into this mess: the party being viewed only as a tool to foster the election (or re-election) of the highest ranking Democrat on the ticket.

What is needed now is a chairperson who will take a longer view with a focus on party building and an executive director with the energy and commitment to make that vision a reality.